Virginia Tech FutureHAUS Responsive Design Makes Whole House Work Like A Live-In App

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Designers at Virginia Tech say they’ve created the future of housing with an concept so innovative it has won an international competition and could disrupt the industry.

Stepping inside their home is a trip into our future, reports CBS2’s Steve Overmyer.

FutureHAUS found tech solutions to building homes in a modular fashion.

“It’s almost like building a house with Legos, right, but sophisticated Legos,” said Joseph Wheeler, co-director at the Virginia Tech Center for Design Research.

You want a bigger living space? The walls move.

And the bathroom? The shower glass is also a projection TV screen. Shower temp can be voice controlled through Amazon’s Alexa.

Using fingerprint technology, the bathroom will remember your presets, from special lighting for makeup to raising or lowering the counter to the perfect height.

“There’s walls that move, there’s you know vanity tops, cabinetry, toilets, et cetera,” said Matthew Erwin, Virginia Tech student and lead engineer. “They all actuate up and down to adjust to little toddlers, to tall people, to grandma, et cetera.”

A sensor in the floor measures your weight. Almost every surface in this home has touchscreen display, from the kitchen counter to the backsplash.

Everything has a tech upgrade – including the kitchen sink which was 3-D printed with the plumbing baked in.

“This is absolutely the house of the future,” said Wheeler.

FutureHAUS comes complete with an LED ceiling that can mimic day light and a hatch on the roof for your drone delivery.

“It’s gonna drive lower carbon emissions,” said Emil Avram, vice president of innovation at Dominion Energy. “You have solar on the roof on the rooftop, storage using batteries in the home, it recycles water.”

It’s all in about 900 square feet – not just energy efficient, but space efficient.

Because it’s a modular home, the home can be built and set up in less than a week.